Patchwork of Prototypes Will Help Guide Skills Board

Early next year, Congress is expected to approve the creation of a
national board to help set skills standards for various occupations.
But such a board would not be starting from scratch, according to a
study released last week by the Education Department.

The four-volume report, "Skills Standards in the U.S. and Abroad,''
found that some form of skills standards already exists for 168
occupations in the United States, ranging from heating-and-cooling
mechanics to graphic artists.

But the development of such standards has been haphazard. For
example, 21 groups offer nursing certificates, while other industrial
sectors--such as agriculture and mining--have no industrywide skills
standards.

In addition, few credentialing programs are targeted at entry-level
workers, and there is no one set of occupational standards recognized
by every state.

"The good news is that there's a lot happening in the field,''
Augusta Souza Kappner, the department's assistant secretary for
vocational and adult education, said in releasing the report.

But the wide array of approaches, she added, "reinforces for us that
there is a need for the federal government to play a role in developing
a framework.''

The Clinton Administration has made the development of voluntary
national skills standards a cornerstone of its efforts to strengthen
the American workforce. Such standards, said Ms. Kappner, could help
close the gap between the skills that high school graduates possess and
those that employers want.

Until now, she argued, business and industry have not sent "clear
signals'' about the skills, knowledge, and ability levels that are
required for on-the-job performance.

Potential Federal Role

The Education and Labor departments are currently funding 22 pilot
projects to develop industry-based skills standards. Last month, the
Education Department awarded $3.5 million in new grants to develop such
standards in nine industries.

One of the "hardest tasks'' facing a national skills-standards
board, Ms. Kappner said, will be defining the broad occupational
clusters in which such standards should be developed.

"The hope is that over the next three or four years, there will be
voluntary national skills standards in at least the great majority of
growing occupations,'' added Douglas Ross, the Labor Department's
assistant secretary for employment and training.

The study, conducted by the Institute for Educational Leadership, a
nonprofit research group based here, stresses that industry must take
the lead in developing skills standards. But it outlines a number of
functions for the federal government.

These include establishing a quasi-independent organization that can
help the various stakeholders reach consensus about how skills
standards should be defined and measured.

In addition, more research needs to be conducted on how to assess
whether individuals have the necessary knowledge and skills to enter an
occupation. Most of the existing certification systems rely on
paper-and-pencil tests, the study found. But, it adds, "no one form of
assessment or testing was identified as being superior.''

Joan L. Wills, the study's principal investigator, also stressed
that new mechanisms must be created to help translate the standards
into workable curricula for education-and-training programs.

In addition, the quality of instructors within existing programs was
"consistently identified as a concern,'' the report says.

The study also advocates more research to identify and measure the
competencies that can best be learned within the workplace rather than
in the classroom.

In addition to the United States, the study reviewed
skills-standards systems in Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark,
Germany, and Japan. Most other countries, it found, are more advanced
than the United States in their support of skills standards.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.